Feedback from students can help instructors refine courses and teaching strategies, and a new custom-built system is improving how the data is collected. 

The University of Iowa’s system for collecting end-of-semester course feedback was updated in summer 2024. The new system was built with guidance from the Office of the Provost, and the Teaching Effectiveness Task Force.The new system, Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPOT), replaced the Assessing the Classroom Environment (ACE) system. SPOT is a homegrown solution that provides flexibility to continually evolve and develop the tool to meet the needs of the university community. 

“SPOT recognizes that students have unique expertise to report on their own experiences in a course,” says University College Director of Technology and Operations Annette Beck. “Their feedback is a valuable source of information for helping an instructor further develop or fine-tune the course in the future.” 

SPOT uses the same questions (updated in 2020) as ACE, but it is implemented directly through the course management system, called Iowa Courses Online, or ICON. A small number of changes make the system easier for students to access and use, and instructors now have an updated reporting system and streamlined report access. 

Benefits of SPOT include: 

  • ICON integration puts SPOT closer to where students and faculty interact most  

  • Advanced reporting using PowerBI/Campus Data  

  • Ownership/retention of all data in the university’s data warehouse  

  • Use of roles and permissions to control access  

  • Automated access for DEOs to the reporting solution based on HR and MAUI data 

  • Ability to build administrative tools to decrease response times for supporting end users 

Caroline Sheerin, professor of instruction in the College of Law, says SPOT has improved the gathering of student feedback. She has found the Midterm SPOT Check useful so far. 

"The confidential midterm evaluation proved to be a useful tool in the fall to gauge whether I was reaching students,” Sheerin says. “I made some half-time adjustments after reviewing the student comments, and the students were receptive to the changes.” 

The decision to build a homegrown system was made in fall 2023 and the project was a joint effort of the Office of the Provost, University College, and ITS-Administrative Information Systems (AIS).  

Building the solution also allowed for better utilization of resources.  Enterprise Student Systems in AIS focused on building the application for students and instructors, while the Data, Analytics, and Insights team in AIS was able to focus on BI and reporting needs in Campus Data.  A pilot was done in summer 2024 and the new system launched campus-wide in fall 2024. 

Extensive data testing ensured historical data from the ACE system is accessible by instructors using SPOT. New reporting artifacts for faculty, departments, and colleges were created. 

One challenge of the change was understanding the long-term, embedded processes across many colleges. There is a wide variety of customized course structures, unique start-dates and end-dates, and ways of assigning instructor or TA roles. 

The shift to a custom-built system was paired with changing how the assessment of teaching is done at the University of Iowa. Beck says the goal is a holistic view that helps instructors guide their professional development and provide a high-quality learning experience for students.  

“We will continue to develop and improve SPOT when we hear from users about their questions and needs,” Beck says.